Drones, UAS are like 'claws in the sky' now: IAF chief

New Delhi: IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal A P Singh on Friday said drones and other unmanned aerial systems (UAS), being an extension of air power, are no more just eyes in the sky, rather they are now akin to "claws in the sky".

In his address at a defence seminar themed on unmanned aerial systems and counter-UAS, he asserted that in any modern aerial threat, complete domain awareness is the key, and there should be "total coordination" among the three services which will be operating in the same air space.

"We have seen what happens... if you don't have domain awareness, you don't know where your people are and where others are. We've seen what happened to F-15s in Kuwait. The fratricide part. So we cannot afford to have things like that," the IAF chief said, referring to the recent incident that took place during the West Asia conflict.

On March 1, three US F-15E Strike Eagles went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident, the US CENTCOM had said in a statement on March 2.

The seminar is being co-hosted by think-tank Centre for Aerospace Power & Strategic Studies (CAPSS) and Indian Military Review (IMR) publication, at the IAF's Subroto Park here.

The drones and unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and counter-unmanned aerial systems (UAS), are very relevant today. It is a reality. It is not something for the future, the IAF chief said.

"So, there is no denying that the battlefield has shifted. We are shifting totally from those very concentrated air power to a sort of decentralised and autonomous way," he added.

The air chief marshal underlined that the UAS is an "extension of air power".

"So all the rules of air power will apply when you use the UAS systems, just remember that. And, they are no more eyes in the sky. They are like claws in the sky now. This, we've seen it in the recent conflicts that have taken place. And we also realised during Operation Sindoor, and this part cannot be forgotten," he asserted.

"And, when it comes to counter-UAS, it is like a cat and mouse game. You develop technology in one field, the counter technology has to develop along with it. Because that is how the game can be played, otherwise, one side will have total advantage," the IAF chief said."You can't always have force versus force. It has to be force versus defence and others." The air office recalled the key role of the Indian Air Force during Operation Sindoor, the decisive military action by India during May last year.

"I think we've done reasonably well in Op Sindoor. And why that happened, because there was coordination. Without coordination, without central, agency coordinating it. Without having that IACCS (Integrated Air Command and Control System) becoming a nerve centre, whether it is counter-UAS or counter-weapon or counter-aircraft, it wouldn't have been possible," the IAF chief said.

"So, we were successful, we were successful... none of their weapons systems landed upon target. None of their UAS systems landed upon target, is because we were operating in a manner that is the way to go," he added.

Operation Sindoor was launched early in May 7 last year in retaliation to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack, with Indian forces conducting precision strikes on multiple terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

Pakistan later also launched offensives against India, and all subsequent counter-offensives by India were also carried out under Operation Sindoor.

The military conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, lasting nearly 88 hours, halted after they reached an understanding on the evening of May 10.

A swarm of drones were sent in multiple waves by the adversary during the conflict, which were countered effectively by the Indian forces, he said.

On the importance of an integrated air defence system system, he said structures have been put in place so that "every time, we are able to counter them in that manner".

"We will have all three services operating in the same air space, there has to be total coordination, and I'm happy to state that there is already existing structures, and we are strengthening those structures even further," the IAF chief underscored.

He also spoke of the much talked about cost asymmetry that military drones have brought in to battlefield, but asserted that one must also consider that the "cost is not of the weapon system that is coming to hit, it is the cost of the system that it is going to hit".

"There was a mention about low-cost attack and high-cost defence. That means you know using we've been hearing it, you know, using a million dollar missile, for a few hundred or a few thousand dollar drones.

"My take on that is slightly different. Yes, we need to scale up. If we have to scale up our counter-UAS systems, we need to make it low-cost because if the attacking systems can be scaled up because of their low cost and numbers can be in thousands, obviously I need to have something that I can afford," the IAF chief said.

"But the cost is not of the weapon system that is coming to hit. It is the cost of the system that it is going to hit. What is the target. And sometimes the target may be such that there is no thinking about cost that time. So it is the damage that the system can do is what we have to see. And based on that.. what we use to kill it," he said.

So, that is where one needs to have a "rethink", Air Chief Marshal Singh said. "We have used some high-cost options during Op Sindoor also." In his address to the gathering of senior military officials, defence and strategic affairs experts and military scholars, he emphasised that the "future is manned and unmanned teaming", in which both options are used together.

"You can't take man out of the loop. You may not have man in the loop, maybe you have man on the loop. But it cannot be out of the loop totally. I don't think in near future, in next decade or so, I don't think so we are in that stage," he said.

If one were to progress towards the side of unmanned systems, then all the other design houses wouldn't be "spending money, time, energy towards their six-gen fighter and future fighter programmes. All of them are manned, the IAF chief added.

He said that the battlefield survivability of UAS systems is still a concern. "We need to think about that part, how to make our UAS system survive in battle."